Alabama Athletics
Same spring story: Alabama looking for improvement in kicking game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Here’s what is set among Alabama’s specialists heading into the spring: Thomas Fletcher.
For two seasons he’s been the Crimson Tide’s long snapper, and the senior has yet to have a bad snap. That includes his freshman season when he split duties, and Fletcher has even made a couple of tackles in punt coverage.
Everything else can be described with three letters: TBD.
To be determined won’t be the standard for long, though, and one has to think that the plans include Jaylen Waddle, the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.
The junior wide receiver likes playing special teams, Nick Saban obviously has no problem putting him deep on kicks and punts, and special teams coach Jeff Banks is known for one thing in particular: speed.
“I think people try to make this like I’m a returner that plays receiver, but I work real hard at receiver, so I’m a receiver who returns punts,” Waddle said late last season.
Even though a lot of opponents did everything they could to prevent him from fielding punts minus going for it on every fourth down, Waddle led the nation in punt-return average at 24.4 yards per attempt with 20 returns for 487 yards and a touchdown, including a long of 77.
His 24.4 yards per punt return shattered the previous single-season record at Alabama. The 487 punt-return yards were the fourth-most in Alabama single-season history, and he returned five kickoffs for 175 yards and a touchdown (98 yards at Auburn).
Waddle might also get running back Brian Robinson Jr. back as the other deep man, and primary blocker, on kickoffs, and he’ll still have Banks devising ways to get him into open.
“No one understands,” Waddle said about the complex levels that go into special teams planning. “He’s the real guy — mastermind behind it.”
Another retuning special-steams staple for Alabama figures to be Ale Kaho, who blocked three punts and recovered one in the end zone for a touchdown lasts season. The junior linebacker also made 20 tackles overall, but many of them were in punt and kick coverage.
As for the kicking and punting duties, a lot will be determined by the status of sophomore Will Reichard. Handling both punter and kicker responsibilities last season, he suffered a hip injury in his fifth game – preventing him from redshirting.
After winning the starting kicker job he was 4-for-7 field goals (although two of the misses were from 40-plus yards) and 21-for-22 in point-after attempts.
He kicked off 29 times for 1,831 yards to average 63.1 yards per kick (15 yards better than anyone else on the team), with 22 touchbacks.
Alabama also has Joseph Bulovas, plus punters Skyler DeLong and Ty Perine in the mix. As a freshman walk-on last season, Perine averaged a team-high 44.69 yards per attempts.
The Crimson Tide was last in the SEC in punting (35.6 average), and 12 in field-goal percentage. The kicking issues became such a problem that when asked on his radio show if the college game should move extra-point attempts back like the NFL did, Nick Saban responded: “I hate to say this, but our extra points haven’t been so automatic the last couple years. So, I mean, I’m standing there on the sideline shaking my leg every time we line up.”
The other major decision Alabama will have to make is of Mac Jones remains the holder.
This is the third story in the Spring Takes series, highlighting the top five things to keep an eye on during the practices leading up to 2020 A-Day
• Alabama’s Spring Begins Up Front on Both Sides of the Ball
• Alabama's Linebacker Groups a Tale of Perfect Opposites From a Year Ago
